A Writer's Inspiration

Hello, my name is Christina Batrouni, and I’m a 19 year old
student living in Lebanon.

I am a person who is very fond of art; and all types of art,
ranging from film to books and so on.

As a student pursuing her undergraduate studies in English
Literature, I have started writing my first novel. After three
weeks of constant editing, I was able to craft seven stable
chapters.

I have always dreamt of writing a novel in entirety, ever since I
was eight years old. I found inspiration in many things; such as
various poems by Edgar Allan poe. I have also been influenced by
how various non-Western writers have expressed their oppression
through words.

My main center of inspiration emerged from Irvine Welsh’s
Trainspotting, which portrayed the hopelessness of a group
of people who were stuck in their miserable lives, using heroine
to escape such a state. Welsh is a Scottish writer known for
novels such as Trainspotting and Filth.
Trainspotting revolves around 4 main Scottish characters
addicted to heroine, living in Scotland. One of the scenes that
really spoke to me was when Mark; the central character of the
novel, tells his friends how miserable life is in Scotland, which
made me really think of how some people were living in
Lebanon.

With the rebellion currently taking place in Lebanon, I realized
how our ancestors have suffered already many times before and now
finally emerged to speak against such injustice. Lebanon’s
garbage crisis has reached its peak; having its streets filled
with the filth that will eventually kill us all if not resolved.
So, I am very glad that people have woken up to such crisis and
are expressing themselves through the streets of Beirut; whether
protesting in its streets, using graffiti, or even expressing
themselves through social media such as Facebook. Lebanon’s
suffering has had a great impact on me, and so I am merging it
into my novel, as well as the level of poverty surrounding
Beirut. I would walk out of university and see many children and
women begging for money or a piece of bread. Such people come
from different backgrounds, for some are Syrian refugees and
others are Lebanese. I am working on making my characters’
situation symbolise such despair.

In addition to that, I wanted to integrate the sectarian tension
that Lebanon has been going through during its many years of
existence. It had caused the civil war in 1975, and it is still
causing problems today due to religion’s direct connection with
Lebanon’s various political parties. I am not going through such
tension in detail in my novel, but I am showing a glimpse of how
it probably was during the civil war.

I pray every day for Lebanon’s agony to be abolished by its
people. I have very high hopes for my novel, and I am enjoying
every second of writing it.

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